Gambling publicity stunts get crazier and crazier every year. Gaming firms are always looking for new and interesting ways to capture players attention. Sometimes, they are entertaining. Sometimes, they are weird. On the odd occasion, they can be offensive. Unfortunately for Australian bookmaker Sportsbet, its most recent marketing campaign was the latter.
To promote the World Cup, SportsBet displayed a large hot air balloon above the city of Melbourne. It is in the shape of Jesus Christ, and it is based on the iconic Christ the Redeemer statue in Brazil. He is wear a SportsBet jersey with the phrase #KeepTheFaith on the front. As you can imagine, the campaign has not been well-received by responsible gambling advocates and Christians across Australia.
Reverend Tim Costello of the Australian Churches Taskforce has spoken out against the campaign, who believes that the hot air balloon is offensive. "One of the great statues in Rio is Jesus, and Brazil is a Catholic nation that takes its faith seriously and its football fanatically," he says. “You don't exploit those things that are sacred to people simply for your own advertising reach.
SportsBet does not seem particularly bothered by the criticism. Spokesperson Matthew Campbell says that the company stands by the campaign and does not believe that it is offensive. He states that the balloon simply puts an Australian spin on a Brazilian icon. "It's a balloon replica of a famous statue that is used extensively to promote the World Cup.
You can't turn on the TV promotion without them showing the Christ the Redeemer all the time,” he says. "All we've done is bring it to Australia and give it a Socceroos flavour." He also denies that it promotes gambling, stating that it is actually ‘about rallying the troops behind the Socceroos, who are massive underdogs’.
Responsible gambling lobbyists will more certainly disagree with this notion.
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